489 



umbo or central boss on the front or anterior face. The front is carved 

 with ribs, or raised concentric ridges, triangular in section, seven in 

 number, and arranged in pairs, except the outward one, which is sin- 

 gle. The conical boss, also carved out of the solid, stands 3 inches 

 high, and measures 8 inches in the long diameter. One end of the 

 shield is narrower than the other, but this I think is more the result of 

 contraction of the wood towards the upper portion of the tree from 

 which it was cut than the original intention of the artist. The boss has, 

 likewise, been canted over to one side ; but this is also in part due either 

 to the action of the air on the drying wood, or to pres.sure while in the 

 bog. Both actions may have effected this result. A very remarkable and 

 equable indentation exists along one side of the boss in the line of the 

 lateral diameter of the shield, which can only be accounted for in three 

 ways : by the tool of the artist, by pressure while in the bog, or by 

 greater shrinking of the fibrous texture of the wood at this particular 

 point from a knot or such other circumstance. It is, however, worthy 

 of remark, that in one of the bronze shields preserved in the Copenhagen 

 Museum, a similar indentation presents on one side of the boss. 



Professor Haughton, whom I have consulted on the subject of this 

 curvature, is of opinion that, as in certain fossils, it is the result of pres- 

 sure while in the bog ; but the objection to this is, that the grain of the 

 wood runs through on the obverse side, but has been cut obliquely by 

 the tool of the graver in forming the ribs in front. The tilting over of 

 the boss may, however, have been somewhat influenced hj pressure. 



When the shield was first taken up, and even after it came into my 

 possession about a fortnight afterwards, it was so soft, that any firm 

 substance could be easily passed through it ; and very great care was 

 required for many weeks subsequently, and during the process of eva- 

 poration, drying, and shrinking, to preserve its shape, and prevent its 

 splitting. A. plentiful saturation with Crewe's chloride of zinc in the 

 first instance, and then a continuous and abundant dosing for weeks 

 with liquid glue and litharge (such as is used by cabinet-makers for 

 stopping cracks), while at the same time the form was retained by la- 

 teral and equally adjusted pressure, and a copper band encircling the 

 .circumference, has enabled me to preserve this very remarkable and 

 unique specimen of defensive warfare. During the drying process it 

 shrunk about three inches in the lateral, but only a quarter of an inch 

 in the long diameter. 



As soon, however, as the shield came into my possession, I had a 

 very perfect piece-mould made of it, from which casts may now be ob- 

 tained at a moderate cost by those interested in such matters. 



The wood of which this shield is formed could only have been oak, 

 willow, or alder. The peculiar grain of the wood, even when satu- 

 rated with moisture, as well as the fact that Roderick O'Plaherty had 

 stated in the " Ogygia," that the Irish name of the alder, as well as the 

 letter r, was Fearn, because shields are made of it," led me to decide 

 on the last; and, without mentioning my surmises to them, I am happy 

 to mention that my opinion has been confirmed by two of the first ve- 



